The Emergency Support Function (ESF) annexes to the Emergency Operations Plan organize the applicable college positions, departments, and outside support agencies into groups according to their roles in strategic response to a campus emergency or disaster. Outside agencies may include: governmental, non-governmental, private sector, and other volunteer resources. The ESF annex provides basic information on available internal and external departments and agencies that might be needed for an incident that affects Dallas College. Each ESF has at least one lead position or department within the College that will lead the specific response, one or more supporting departments within the College that will provide response support, and one or more external supporting departments from the surrounding communities, and neighboring jurisdictions.
ESFs will normally be activated at the direction of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Director in response to activation level 3 or greater emergencies as outlined in the EOP. Designated department and agency resources may be requested to respond or recover from emergency incidents that affect the College. Normally, the response and recovery actions will be coordinated from the EOC as Incident or Unified Command will use the resources at the incident scene.
The primary position/department/office(s) will normally be responsible for coordinating specific requirements associated with the emergency support function. Support position/department/office(s) may be contacted to provide expertise and assistance, as needed. Finally, external departments/agencies may be needed if internal resources are overwhelmed or where College capabilities do not exist (such as emergency medical or fire services.) In all cases, prior memorandums of understanding, mutual aid agreements, or funding issues would need to be addressed prior to requesting assistance.
Purpose
The purpose of ESF 4 is to identify the internal and external departments responsible for firefighting actions that may take place in an emergency. This ESF provides and coordinate resources (personnel, equipment, facilities, materials and supplies) to support firefighting needs during an emergency or disaster.
Scope
Emergency Support Function 4:
- Provides coordination of campus firefighting activities as well as support to all firefighting operations during an emergency or disaster.
- Managing firefighting, emergency medical and hazardous materials response assets.
- Detection and suppression of fires.
- May be activated to respond to incidents that overwhelm normal Incident Command response actions.
Situation
Dallas College is exposed to many hazards, all of which have the potential for disrupting the community, causing casualties, and damaging or destroying public or private property. Potential emergencies and disasters include both natural and human-caused incidents.
See the EOP Hazard Summary for the potential emergencies that may impact Dallas College.
The college
DOES NOT operate its own firefighting service and has minimal internal response capability for this ESF.
Assumptions
The college makes the following planning assumptions:
- Not all college buildings are fire alarmed or sprinkled.
- For minor fire suppression, extinguishers are made available in all facilities.
- College resources will be quickly overwhelmed.
- Communication systems may fail during a major incident.
- Backup systems will be available, but may take time to activate.
- Shortfalls can be expected in both support personnel and equipment.
- Local, state, and federal assistance may not be immediately available.